Climate, Development, and Energy: Renewing our Future
Title of Course: Climate, Development, and Energy: Renewing our Future
Facilitator: Robert Hemphill and Timothy Den Herder-Thomas
Email: hemphill.robertm@gmail.com, timothydht@gmail.com Phone: Robert 847-757-6091
Class Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8-10pm
Class Dates: 6/16- 7/30 with a break the week of 7/6
Place: Macalester Campus, Olin-Rice 243
Course description: In the past few years, society has suddenly awakened to global warming, which presents a bold challenge to the way we develop our economies, organize our communities, and operate our daily lives. We now embark on an intense period of building solutions – a transition that will transform our energy systems, agriculture, urban structure, the global economy, and our everyday lives. Are we ready for this challenge? As scientists struggle with technology, leaders fight entrenched political and social assumptions, economists try to rethink global markets, and everyday people prepare to adapt, we will unravel the challenge of our century.
Is this about the environment? Development? Culture? Technology? Foreign policy? Social justice? Community empowerment? Your worldview? Global Citizenship? The answer is yes. With so many facets, we will encourage participants to work with us to develop a focus for their inquiry and identify outside readings, news sources, and initiatives for them to pursue – Macalester students can expand them into for-credit independent studies. During class time, we’ll use these focuses, guest speakers, and discussions of current events to investigate the problem as a whole. We’ll discuss the affects of global warming on our society, economy, and world, the global and local human response, the structure of a society up to the challenge, and how we can renew our future. Our intimate relationship through energy to our local communities, global economy, and biosphere will play a central role in our discussion. You will have some prior knowledge whether you’re an economics student, an environmental activist, or a local resident – no one is unqualified or unrelated. Prerequisites are a strong interest in looking at the world as a whole and investigating the future of our lives within a global community.
Class size: Minimum 10 Maximum 25
What experience do you bring to this class?
Both Timothy and Robert have taught this class in the past. Timothy has been active in the environmental movement for many years now and is a recipient of the Bower Youth Award for his work in organizing within the youth environmental movement. Robert has been active in the movement for two years and is actively pursuing environmental political relationships with non-profits and creating change through policy. Both have taught the class in the past and want to continue this successful class. We will be coordinating the class with Summer of Solutions, a summer youth environmental activism training program occurring on the Macalester campus.
